Stable isotope ratios in bones and teeth reflect the specific chemical composition of the food and water consumed during childhood and adolescence, and different geographic locations have characteristic isotope signatures that can be used to assess whether individuals were local to the burial site or had grown up elsewhere.

If future analysis of the Loch Borralie isotope data reveals that one or both individuals grew up in a different geographic area, it would add to the picture of a mobile society in which people moved across the landscapes documented by the DNA evidence.

The Question of Who Performed the Modification

One of the questions that the Loch Borralie evidence raises but cannot answer is who, specifically, performed the post-mortem treatment of Individual 1’s body.

Was it a specialist — a person whose social role in the community included the handling and preparation of the dead?